The Best Laptop for Photoshopping
Photoshop on the run with these great laptops...
I have had the question asked, "what is the best laptop for photoshopping?" This would be the same question that people using computer aided design, and video editing would ask. Let me see if I can shed some light on this for you.
These particular types of applications -- Photoshop, video editing, and computer aided design -- are very graphics intensive. They require a lot of processing power and demand much from a laptop.
In looking for the best laptop for Photoshop, you need to consider things such as: the CPU, the amount of RAM, the speed of the hard drive, the size of the hard drive, the graphics card, the LCD, the operating system, and even a second hard drive.
Let's take a look at these one by one and then we'll look at three different laptops that I would say are classified as the best laptop for photoshopping.
First, the processor or CPU. At a minimum it should be a dual core processor running at about 2 GHz. Because of the way Photoshop, as a software package, has been written, it will take full advantage of a dual core processor. You will see below that in my comparison, all the laptops use an Intel Core 2 Duo running at a minimum of 2.0 GHz.
Second, RAM. A good amount of RAM is essential in looking for the best laptop for photoshopping. At a minimum, you need at least 1 GB of RAM. The more RAM you can get, the faster the computer will run and applications will execute. Now purchasing RAM directly from the laptop manufacturer typically is much more expensive than if you buy the RAM from a third-party vendor. You have to weigh the cost-benefit of purchasing aftermarket RAM. In saying this, I mean you have to determine whether the price savings that you will experience, will outweigh the necessity of you installing the RAM yourself or hiring someone to install it for you. In my comparison, all the laptops have 2 GB of RAM.
Third, the hard drive. In these particular types of applications -- Photoshop, video editing, computer aided design (CAD) -- hard drive space can be used up very quickly. So a larger hard drive is beneficial. Additionally, having a faster hard drive is also helpful. Most hard drives in laptops, the standard configuration, run at only 5400 RPM. The standard hard drive for desktop machines run at 7200 RPM. There are actually some applications that require the hard drive to run at a minimum 7200 RPM. In my comparison, I have chosen to compare 160 GB hard drives that run at 7200 RPM as part of the best laptop for photoshopping.
For those of you using Photoshop (and perhaps others), you'll want to consider purchasing an external hard drive as part of the package for the best laptop for photoshopping. This would be useful to be used as a "scratch drive". That way you don't use valuable hard drive space on your laptop. Of course, this might be inconvenient having to carry around a second hard drive. However, external hard drives are getting less expensive all the time. At the same time they are getting smaller.
Fourth, the graphics card. Most laptops come with what is known as an integrated graphics card. That means the graphics card is built into the motherboard and shares RAM with the motherboard. If you can avoid this in looking for the best laptop for photoshopping then you should avoid. Get a graphics card that is independent from the motherboard and has its own RAM. For instance, in the comparison below, both PC laptops use an NVIDIA GeForce graphics card with 256 MB of RAM.
Fifth, the monitor. The ability for the LCD to display images in detail is important for the best laptop for photoshopping. Also being able to set up monitor profiling and calibration is important for the best laptop for photoshopping. You can read more about monitor profiling and calibration at this website. Most laptop monitors will never compare to desktop monitors. However, I think you will be pleased with what you see in the three laptops that I have profiled below.
Sixth, the operating system. Most laptops, nowadays in the PC world, ship with Windows Vista. Currently, I am not a fan of Vista. I much prefer Windows XP professional. It is a much more stable operating system and all my software will still run on it. I've heard and read on the Internet of many people who are having problems in getting software to run properly in Vista. Except for the Apple laptop, listed below, the laptop PCs run XP Pro. If an operating system causes Photoshop not to run, how can it be the best laptop for photoshopping?
In the comparison below, I detailed out the elements of what we have discussed and put three laptops head-to-head to help you determine which is the best laptop for photoshopping.
As you can see, I compared the Dell XPS M1710 to the AlienWare Area- 51 M5550 to see who would take the crown for the best laptop for photoshopping. All the specs are very similar between the two PC laptops. In fact, they are almost identical. The main difference is in the size of the monitor. The Dell has a 17 inch monitor while the AlienWare is 15.4 inches.
The bottom line is that the AlienWare is about $850 cheaper than the Dell.
So my opinion, the AlienWare Area-51 M5550 is the best laptop for photoshopping.
